If you're creating a website for the first time or even for the tenth time, it's always good to review what makes a good website design.
So for example, how you design your site, your colors, graphics, positioning and navigation is up to you however the following tips will help you stay within the parameters of optimal website design and functionality while also fulfilling the expectations of your viewers.
- Use Optimal Website Design
The best website design practices means using a professional header graphic, clear right or left navigation and a footer.
Choose a color scheme that blends well with the overall look of your site. For example http://colorschemedesigner.com/ will help you choose and coordinate colors that are complimentary and easy on the eye and avoid flashy, contrasting colors and graphics.
If you create your own website header be sure it's professional looking and is relevant to what your site is about. Your header is the first thing that your visitors see so you'll want to make it as appropriate and inviting as possible. In fact you may want to outsource having a good header created for you, if you have a smaller budget here are 500 free website headers you can use.
Keep your body text on a white background, it’s much easier to read. Keep advertisements to a minimum and don’t force audio or video on your viewers. Keep your navigation in plain view either on the left or right of your pages and keep it consistent throughout your website.
Your Opt-in or Subscribe Box
Keep your opt-in box to the top right or left of your page, above the fold. Research has found that businesses get the most sign-ups if their sign-up forms are at the top, above the fold of the page. Anything you put at the bottom right of your website will be noticed the least. Interesting, but true. Save that space for things you're not worried about anyone seeing.
- Include an About Page
Always include an about page on your site. Don't be afraid to tell your story and let people know who you are and how you arrived where you are.
When you write your about page, let your visitors know that you are available, encourage questions, email and phone calls. Include your name, address and phone number. Place a photo on your site giving your viewers a real glimpse of who you are, it adds a whole dimension of familiarity which is an important part of doing business online and it builds trust. These are things that clearly indicate to your visitors that you are genuine and it helps them to get to know and trust you better.
- Create Meta Tags
This is the first place I look when people tell me they aren't getting visitors. I often see sites that have no title or description tag or the tags don't follow the suggested guidelines for proper setup.
Here's an example of how the tags might look for a site that sells hummingbird feeders:
<title>Hummingbird Feeders: Shop For Hummingbird Feeders Online</title>
<meta name="description" CONTENT="Hummingbird feeders.
Shop For hummingbird feeders online">
<meta name="keywords" CONTENT="hummingbird feeders,
hummingbird feeder, bird feeder, bird feeders">
Each page needs to have it's own set of tags. I recommend focusing on one keyword per page, two at the very most. Too many keywords can confuse what your page is about.
Always make sure that your keywords are scattered throughout your text, however never sacrifice good content for nonsense. Your text should be easy
to understand, flow logically and should not sound redundant.
- Include a Privacy Page
Viewers want reassurance that you have a policy that follows privacy guidelines. They want to know that you will not sell or give away their information. In these days of rampant spam, your privacy policy needs to be prominently displayed. Many viewers and business partners won’t do business with you unless you have it.
- Keep your links in blue.
Viewers expect links to be in blue so I like to stick by that standard. There’s certainly no law that says a link needs to be blue but people spend a lot of time on the internet and it’s good practice to keep your navigation consistent and recognizable. If you do use another color, keep it consistent throughout your site.
- Keep navigation consistent
The navigation on your index page should be repeated throughout your site’s pages. Also keep the colors consistent. Don’t force your viewers to relearn each page of your site. Keep your navigation bars and links the same for each page.
- Use Understandable Buttons and links
Don’t use cute or misleading names for your links, title them appropriately. For example, if you have a link to sports equipment don’t label the link ‘Great Outdoors’, call it ‘Sports Equipment’ and make sure your page is titled the same. For instance, a page about sports equipment would look like this: 'www.yoursite.com/sports-equipment.html'. Also make sure all text links on your site referring to that page say 'sports equipment. Keep things consistent and relevant.
- Optimize Your Site's Links
Optimal website design includes both good internal page linking as well as getting one way backlinks to your site.
For your most popular and profitable pages make sure they are linked to from at least 3 other pages on your site, remembering to use a text link that includes your best keywords.
Next, work on getting as many high value backlinks to your site by writing and submitting articles, guest blogging and commenting on related blogs and websites.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
“Keep your links blue.” — I think it’s okay to use other colors for the links as long as it is recognizable, but the following tips are very useful as well. Thanks though.
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